ON THE last day of our coverage of the 30th anniversary of the start of the Falklands War, Mike Morgan speaks to one man who was there for the liberation.

FORMER Teesside Royal Marines Recce Sergeant David Lazenby led the famous Commandos’ return to liberate the Falklands.

He was lead pathfinder on the yomp across the islands to victory at Port Stanley.

The 65-year-old’s impeccable career in the Royal Marines spanned 22 years. But his Falklands service was extra special.

Before war broke out in 1982 he served aboard survey ship Endurance, which later became a thorn in the side of the Argentinians from a position hidden in an inlet.

Prior to the conflict, he was Royal Marines Sergeant to the islands in the original Naval Party 8901 island force - so he knew the region well when he returned to fight there.

Mr Lazenby witnessed the sinking of the warship HMS Antelope by jet bombers in Falkland Sound. And he also saw many bombing attacks by Skyhawk jets - as well as Exocet missile attacks by Argentinian Super Etendard aircraft.

But it was after the main Commando force landed at Ajax Bay that he led the famed march across to battlegrounds at Mount Harriet, Tumbledown, Sapper Hill and Port Stanley. “All of my lads were ultra fit as they’d trained for Arctic war in Norway,” he recalls.

“They carried their 120lbs packs many miles to attack the Argies in their dug-in positions on the hills.”

He and his men saw lots of action, but Mr Lazenby says a rare moment came when he had to order them to fix bayonets for an attack from the lower slopes of Sapper Hill.

“That really got the adrenaline going!” he said. “But when we got there, there was only one terrified Argie left. All the rest had run away.

“We sent him back down the line and consolidated our position just as the Welsh Guards flew in via helicopter to join us.

“Then, when we got to Port Stanley, there were some of the original Naval Party 8901 lads who’d been captured by the Argies when they invaded and repatriated back to the UK. Fittingly, it was those lads who raised the Union Flag at the capital Port Stanley to signify the final victory.”

Mr Lazenby, 65, now lives at Middleton St George, near Yarm but, for 10 years prior to that, home was at Eaglescliffe. He left school at 15 and spent five years in the Merchant Navy before joining the Royal Marines in October 1967.

After qualifying for his Green Beret in 1968 he was drafted to 40 Commando in Singapore. Following service on the Malay peninsular with 3rd Commando Brigade, he was promoted to corporal.

Later, he served on HMS Endurance on the Antarctic peninsular, visiting the Falklands in 1973 when he was ship’s corporal. Then he was drafted to 45 Commando and served the first of three tours in Northern Ireland.

Then he qualified as a Mountain Leader in 1975 and became an Arctic warfare cadre instructor, before volunteering for the Falklands Islands Naval Party, where he gained an intimate knowledge of the geography of the islands.

He was promoted to sergeant, taking over the training of the Falkland TA force. Eventually, he rose to the rank of sergeant major in the Commandos.

On outbreak of the Falklands War in April 1982, his Recce Troop sailed from the Ascension Islands in the Tristram and entered the 200-mile exclusion zone, transferring to the carrier Intrepid before landing at Ajax Bay.

The Commandos yomped to Mount Kent in bitterly cold conditions, experiencing several firefights before the main attack went in at Two Sisters with 45 Commando and 42 Commando was ordered to take Mount Harriet.

Key reconnaissance was carried out by Mr Lazenby’s Recce Troop. He said: “We watched as Tumbledown was cleared by the Scots Guards and Wireless Ridge by the Paras in a giant pincer movement.

“The last fight before Port Stanley was at Sapper Hill, just outside Port Stanley. We could see the Argies fleeing in droves to Stanley through our binoculars.

“My commanding officer ordered our Recce unit on to the hill. But we had to cross a valley called Mine Alley which was packed full of enemy mines.

“Luckily, the ground was solid in the cold and we prayed we wouldn’t disturb any. But we saw trip wires and mines all over the place.”

Mr Lazenby is married to Barbara and has two adult stepsons, Chris and Craig. On returning to Teesside from the Commandos, he became a tanker driver until his retirement last year.

Asked if the Falklands War was worth it, he said: “Absolutely the war was worth it. The Falklanders wanted to remain British and Maggie Thatcher was magnificent as Prime Minister. Everyone respected her strong nerve.”